"All-time highs were recorded elsewhere, including 96 degrees on Monday 80 miles to the north in the small community of Talkeetna, purported to be the inspiration for the town in the TV series, Northern Exposure and the last stop for climbers heading to Mount McKinley, North America's tallest mountain. One unofficial reading taken at a lodge near Talkeetna even measured 98 degrees, which would tie the highest undisputed temperature recorded in Alaska.

"That record was set in 1969, according to Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the online forecasting service Weather Underground.

" 'This is the hottest heat wave in Alaska since '69,' he said. 'You're way, way from normal.' "

NBC News reports that the unusual heat follows an unrelenting winter that hung on until the end of May, when the state gets 18 hours of sunlight a day.

"Eventually, the sun is going to win out, and once it did, boy, did things change in a hurry," Michael Lawson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Anchorage office, told NBC News.

The AP put together a video that shows Alaskans have traded in parkas for shorts and are running to the nearest body of water for some relief: